Iowa regents moving forward with tuition task force discussions

The Iowa Board of Regents is convening a Tuition Task Force this summer to discuss five-year tuition strategies at the state's three public universities. The task force is scheduled report back to the regents in September.
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University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld, center, speaks during the Iowa Board of Regents during meeting June 8, 2017, in Cedar Falls.(Photo11: Jeff Charis-Carlson / Iowa City Press-Citizen)Buy Photo

Iowans will get their first look in August at the new five-year tuition increases being proposed by each of the state's public universities.

With the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa receiving millions of dollars less in state funding next year, the Iowa Board of Regents have asked each institution to come up with a five-year plan for addressing long-term revenue needs.

Using phrases like "everything is on the table," “we’re going to throw things against the wall and see what sticks” and “we’re going to think outside the box,” regent leaders have said they are open to abandoning status quo when it comes to tuition models.

The regents released a schedule Friday for four "public stakeholder meetings" as part of the process.

The months-long series of discussions will begin July 27 in Des Moines with a focus on the legislative and business communities. Speakers invited to attend include the governor, several executive departments, legislative leaders, the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

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The task force also is scheduled to hold meetings at the University of Northern Iowa on August 7, at Iowa State University on Aug. 9 and at the University of Iowa on Aug. 14. Those meetings will include the presentation of each university's tuition strategy, followed by a listening session.

One key policy up for review, for example, will be the longstanding practice of keeping keep base resident undergraduate tuition as close as possible at all three institutions.

Right now, ISU and UNI have the same base undergraduate tuition rate for Iowa students, and UI’s base tuition is only $30 more. The schools go on to add different mandatory fees and supplemental tuition for different programs, but the base level is fairly constant across the three very different institutions.

Other likely strategies will include plans to bring all three public universities closer to the average of their official peer groups, in terms of tuition and fees. UI and ISU are both at the bottom of their official peer group for resident tuition levels, and each school would have to increase tuition by thousands of dollars more to reach the average of its peers.

UI and ISU also are likely to propose widening the gap between resident and out-of-state students as well as increasing the supplemental tuition levels charged to advanced students in certain majors and programs.

Student government leaders have argued that multiple years of last-minute and mid-year tuition increases are making it difficult for Iowa students and their families to prepare for the costs of higher education. But they also warn the regents and the universities against looking to out-of-state enrollment as a cash cow to make up for shrinking state resources.

All meetings of the Tuition Task Force are open to the public, and the public will be allowed to comment during the meetings at the three campuses. Each meeting will be live-streamed, with a link posted on the front page of the regents' website.

The task force is expected to report back to the regents in September. Although the universities can make recommendations, the board alone has the authority to set tuition rates.